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Lifeboats

Board Games > Strategy

Please note: This product is now out of print and no longer available.



In uncharted waters, the ship, Santa Timea, has collided with a reef, and the sailors set off in the old lifeboats for a hair-raising journey to sheltering shores. As the lifeboats move closer to the islands, water rushes in and sailors get thrown overboard. But it's all done democratically and the majority rules - unless you happen to play the Captain’s Hat at the right time to overrule everyone. In Lifeboats, players use their cards to vote for which boat moves closer to safety, which boat springs a leak and who gets thrown overboard. Negotiation skills are a must and backstabbing will not be uncommon - after all, you will do whatever is necessary to get your sailors to shore... and so will everyone else!

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The rules to this game can be tricky to verbalise, but the first round should go by within a few minutes - after which, everyone will hopefully understand everything and be able to imagine the impact of each mechanic.

3 phases - vote on which boat springs a leak, vote on which boat moves, move seamen - give rise to banter and political wrangling.

There's also a sense of pushing your luck - do you try to stay on the more popular ships, knowing they'll be likely to be reach the end? Do you try and maintain a strong presence in a ship, giving you an advantage when it does? But if your presence is too strong, everyone will pick on you...

I don't think I'd enjoy this game so much with folk I'd only newly met or my non-English-speaking in-laws since the political banter is such a big part of the game. Everyone needs to understand that at the end of the day it's all a game and be willing to betray others regardless.

With folk you're able to talk and joke with, this is one of the most social games as well as revealing surprising things about a personality.
Rating: 8.7
Reviewed by: Bezman
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